‘UNITED AT LAST IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE

Medium: Oil on Canvas
Size: 785 x 885 mm
Total outer frame: 930 x 1130 mm
2002
Available

Provenance
2014 Until the end of April Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
2013 November 5 Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
1994-2013 Aleta Michaletos Gallery
2004 ‘BRETT KEBBLE ART AWARDS’ Juried Johannesburg South Africa
2002 ‘POINT OF CHOICE’ solo University of Pretoria

In 1989 I started collecting positive headlines from newspapers and magazines. I called the project Precious Circle. It ended on the 11th May 1994. I had created 50 collages from these clippings, spanning a massive 22 meters. (I have included a description of the project on a separate page: PRECIOUS CIRCLE).
In 2002, I decided to paint ‘United at Last in the Cause of Peace’, using one of those collages as my inspiration. I super imposed clasped hands onto the lettering, which was done by hand and painted with a 000 brush. The delicate end result leads one to believe that it was executed with an airbrush. The painting was painstakingly completed over a period of one year.
This painting has a meditative quality about it.
Although the sheer effort and time that goes into such a painting is exceptionally extravagant, the deliberate understatement in the use of color creates a visual paradox.
The visual activity of the lettering is balanced by the monochrome palette and subtle but planned rhythmic color variations prevent the painting from becoming dull.
The intense concentration and meticulous rendering of such a painting is physically and intellectually demanding. I believe and hope that the energy and devotion, I’ve poured into it, succeeds in attracting, magnetizing and then radiating those positive thoughts that have largely been forgotten and lost in our wonderful country, the last few years.
This unique piece has no counterpart in the art world and will not only be a topic of discussion but will enhance the most carefully/ thoughtfully curated art collection